Third Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 6 A)
June 14, 2026
Trinity Lutheran Church – Wyandotte, MI
Sermon on Exodus 19:2–8
Treasured Possession
“5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. …” (Exodus 19:5–6)
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Have you ever heard a word or a phrase and thought you knew what it meant, only to find out later that you were totally wrong? Maybe you were offered a job and thought you understood what it would involve, only to discover the work was nothing like what you imagined. In a way, that is what the Israelites are learning at Mount Sinai. They had been delivered from slavery, rescued by God’s mighty hand, and now they are discovering what it means to belong to Him.
Three months after God delivered His people out of Egypt, they came to Mount Sinai, also called Horeb. This is the same mountain where God had spoken to Moses in the burning bush. It is the mountain where God had promised that Moses would bring the people back to worship Him. Now that promise has been fulfilled.
And now, here at Sinai, God renews His covenant relationship with Israel and reveals what kind of people they are to be.
The people stand at the foot of the mountain, and God prepares to renew His covenant with them. Before God gives commands, He first reminds them of His saving work: “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself” (Exodus 19:4). That is the foundation. God does not begin with what Israel must do for Him. He begins with what He has already done for them. He rescued them. He carried them. He brought them to Himself.
Before renewing His covenant with Israel, the Lord first reminds the people of what He has already done for them. He says, “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself” (Ex. 19:4).
The Israelites had witnessed God's mighty acts with their own eyes. They saw Him turn the Nile River into blood. They saw Egypt overrun with frogs and afflicted with gnats and flies. The Lord struck the livestock of Egypt with disease and brought painful boils upon the people. He sent devastating hail that destroyed crops and fields, and then a swarm of locusts consumed whatever the hail had left behind. Darkness covered the land for three days. Finally, the Lord brought judgment upon Egypt through the death of every firstborn in the land.
Yet amid His judgment, God showed mercy. He spared those who trusted His promise and obeyed His word. Through the blood of the Passover lamb, He protected His people and delivered them from slavery in Egypt.
The Lord then led Israel safely through the Red Sea on dry ground while drowning Pharaoh’s pursuing army. He guided His people with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. He made bitter water sweet, brought water from the rock, and fed them with manna from heaven and quail in the wilderness. He granted them victory over the Amalekites and preserved them through every trial.
He did all of this because of His steadfast love and mercy. Despite Israel's constant complaints, grumbling, doubting, and rebellion. This is how God is. Israel did not earn or deserve God's mercy and grace. Israel was not smarter or stronger or more “religious” than everyone else. God delivered His people because of His mercy, love, and faithfulness to His promise with Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. The promise of blessing and salvation. The promise we have in Jesus Christ.
Now at the foot of Mount Sinai the Lord declares, “5Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine” (Ex 19:5). The Israelites thought they understood what God was asking of them. Seems to be a straightforward expectation: listen to His voice, keep His covenant, and they would be His treasured possession among all people.
Did the Israelites assume God is trying to buy their love? Or did they hear God’s covenant and imagine that His favor depends on their obedience? They do not understand. God does not work like that. God does not need anything from us. His mercy and forgiveness are not based on our actions. At Mount Sinai, God is telling them, “I have already saved you. I have brought you to Myself. Now live as My chosen people.”
God gives them a new identity. They are no longer slaves but have His "treasured possession”, a chosen people, and a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex 19:6).
What is a priest? And why does God want a kingdom of priests? A priest is one who represents the people before God and serves in the presence of God. Israel is to live as a people of God set apart, so that the nations can see the Lord’s love, mercy, and truth. Their life as a nation was to be witnesses. Their worship was to shape their witness. Their obedience was to show what it looks like to belong to the living God. So that the nations would say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people” (Deuteronomy 4:6).
Israelites thought they understood what God wanted. They did not understand. To obey the Lord’s voice means complete faithfulness to all that He commanded. To keep His covenant means loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, and strength, trusting Him completely, and walking in His ways without fail.
But Israel’s history shows how quickly treasured people can forget they are treasured. They grumble. They wander. They make idols. They turn away. They failed to keep the Lord’s covenant.
You are like Israel. You were once in bondage and a slave to sin. And you have been saved from that bondage of sin. God brought you to Himself and calls you to be His chosen people through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
For in Jesus, God does what Israel could not do. He is the faithful Son who perfectly obeys His Father’s voice. He keeps the covenant without fail. He is the true Priest who stands before God for us, and He is the holy One who gives Himself for the unholy.
At the cross, Jesus bears the curse of our unfaithfulness. He carries not only Israel’s failure but our own. Where we have not obeyed God’s voice. Where we have loved other things more than God. Where we have neglected prayer, despised His Word, or trusted ourselves more than Him, Christ has taken our place. He is delivered into death so that we might be brought to life with God. He rises from the dead, so that we might live as the people of God, the people of His promise.
So what does it mean for us to be God’s treasured possession? It means first that our identity is received, not achieved. We do not make ourselves God’s people by effort, success, or religious performance. He claims us in baptism, feeds us in His Supper, speaks His absolution over us, and keeps calling us back to Himself through His Word. The Lord who brought Israel out of Egypt is the same Lord who has brought us out of sin and death in Christ.
It also means that our lives are not our own. We belong to the One who says, “All the earth is mine.” Our homes, our work, our time, our money, our bodies, our families, and our vocations are all entrusted to us by God. He has made us His own so that we might live under His care and for the good of those around us. We are not saved to sit still. We are saved to serve.
That service begins in ordinary places. It begins in the home, where patience and forgiveness are practiced. It begins at work, where honesty and diligence matter. It begins in the congregation, where we pray, sing, listen, confess, forgive, and bear one another’s burdens. It begins when we speak of Christ to our children, our neighbors, and our friends. A holy nation is not holy because it is impressive. It is holy because it belongs to the Holy One.
So I want to ask you the same question Israel had to answer: Can you recall what God has done for you? He has not merely delivered you from hardship. He has delivered you from sin, from death, and from the devil through Jesus Christ. He has borne you on eagle’s wings, not in a wilderness of sand but through the waters of Holy Baptism and into the promise of His kingdom. He has fed you not with manna in the desert but with the true bread from heaven, the body and blood of His Son.
That means you are not forgotten, and you are not ordinary in the eyes of God. You are His treasured possession in Christ. Not because you were so valuable that He had to have you, but because He chose to set His love on you. He has made you His own. He has brought you to Himself.
And if that is true, then our response is not fear, but trust. Not pride, but humility. Not rebellion, but obedience born of gratitude. We belong to the Lord who saved us. We are His people. We are the flock of His pasture. We are His treasured possession.
Amen.
In the Name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.